The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

M.0850
Study for 'Arrangement in Black: Lady Meux'

Study for 'Arrangement in Black: Lady Meux'

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1881/1882
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number: 1933.296
Medium: pen and brown ink
Support: cream wove paper, laid down on ivory card
Size: 5 3/16 x 3 3/4" (131 x 95 mm)
Signature: two butterflies
Inscription: none

Date

Study for 'Arrangement in Black: Lady Meux' dates from 1881/1882, but was signed a second time by Whistler, probably in 1891.

Study for 'Arrangement in Black: Lady Meux', Art Institute of Chicago
Study for 'Arrangement in Black: Lady Meux', Art Institute of Chicago

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 850).

Images

Study for 'Arrangement in Black: Lady Meux', Art Institute of Chicago
Study for 'Arrangement in Black: Lady Meux', Art Institute of Chicago

Arrangement in Black: Lady Meux, Honolulu Academy of Arts
Arrangement in Black: Lady Meux, Honolulu Academy of Arts

Subject

Sitter

Study for 'Arrangement in Black: Lady Meux', Art Institute of Chicago
Study for 'Arrangement in Black: Lady Meux', Art Institute of Chicago

A study of Valerie Susan Meux (née Langdon) (1847-1910) for a portrait.

Technique

Composition

Study for 'Arrangement in Black: Lady Meux', Art Institute of Chicago
Study for 'Arrangement in Black: Lady Meux', Art Institute of Chicago

Arrangement in Black: Lady Meux, Honolulu Academy of Arts
Arrangement in Black: Lady Meux, Honolulu Academy of Arts

This is a study of for the portrait Arrangement in Black: Lady Meux y228.

Technique

The marginal butterfly was added at the request of Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932) when he bought it in 1891.

See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 850); see also Clarke, Jay A., and Sarah Kelly Oehler, eds., Whistler Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2020, website (cat. no. 23)..

History

Provenance

Exhibitions

It was not exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

Books on Whistler

Catalogues 1906-Present

Journals 1906-Present

Websites


Notes: